Who's the best all-time baseball player from Iowa? VOTE

Who is the best baseball player from Iowa?

>As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.

>During this process, we will examine athletes in their respective sports. We started with football, wrestling, track and field, volleyball and softball, and now we'll move on to baseball. These are our selections for the baseball stars who defined Iowa. Many of the 10 athletes were standouts in their youth before reaching even greater heights at the collegiate and pro levels.

>Vote below on the best of these 10, or write in a candidate that we overlooked or you feel strongly about.

>Players listed in alphabetical order by last name.

>

Cap Anson, MarshalltownBetween the National Association and Major League Baseball, the Marshalltown native played 27 consecutive seasons of professional baseball. He spent the majority of his career with the Chicago White Stockings/Colts — now known as the Cubs — leading the team to six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886 and tallying more than 3,000 career hits (possibly the first player to do so). He batted in 2,075 runs and recorded 97 home runs during his career, and he posted a 1,295-947 record as a manager.

>His legacy wasn’t all positive, though, as Anson played a role in the racial segregation that persisted in baseball until the late 1940s, by refusing to take the field when the opposing team included Black players.

Dave Bancroft, Sioux City

>The Sioux City native spent 16 seasons in the big leagues, and he made an impact from the moment he took the field. Bancroft helped the Philadelphia Phillies to their first National League pennant as a rookie, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played 1,913 games and retired with 2,004 hits, 1,048 runs scored and 4,623 putouts at shortstop (which ranks third on the all-time list).

Casey Blake, Indianola

>Blake was a four-sport standout at Indianola, competing in baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He played college baseball at Wichita State, where he was a three-time All-American and helped the Shockers to the College World Series. Blake made his MLB debut in 1999 and spent more than a dozen seasons playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland and Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished his career with a .264 average, 616 runs batted in and 167 home runs.

Mike Boddicker, Norway

>In high school and college, he did a bit of everything on the diamond, but in the professional game Boddicker stood out on the mound. Through 11 seasons in the major leagues with four different teams, he tallied 1,330 strikeouts. He helped the Baltimore Orioles to a World Series title in 1983, earned American League All-Star honors in 1984 and won the Gold Glove Award in 1990.

>During his time with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Boddicker excelled on and off the mound. He was named first-team all-conference as a pitcher and third-team all-conference as an infielder. In 1978, he led the NCAA with an average of 11.5 strikeouts per game.

Fred Clarke, Winterset

>Considered one of the greatest left fielders in National League history, Clarke spent more than two decades in the major leagues, including 16 as a player-manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He started his career in style, as the only player to have five hits in his major-league debut, and he finished his career with 2,703 hits and a .315 batting average.

>He helped Pittsburgh to four National League pennants (1901, 1902, 1903, 1909), and under Clarke the Pirates participated in the first-ever World Series (1903). In 1909, with Clarke as a player and manager, Pittsburgh won the World Series.

Red Faber, Cascade

>He spent 20 seasons pitching for the Chicago White Sox, utilizing a now-outlawed spitball to take out opponents. He won 254 games – with 273 complete games – during his career, finishing with a 3.15 ERA and 4,086 innings pitched. He helped the White Sox to a World Series win in 1917 and was on the 1919 team that had eight members accused of intentionally losing the World Series (Faber missed those games due to illness).

>Faber won 20 or more games in a season four times, and he pitched more than 330 innings in both 1921 and 1922 – and during both seasons, he led the league in earned-run average.

Bob Feller, Van Meter

>From the moment he entered the major leagues — at the age of 17 — Feller established himself among the best. He struck out 15 batters in his first major-league start in August 1936, and a month later he set an American League rookie record by striking out 17 opponents in one game.

>After his 19th birthday, Feller strung together three straight 20-win seasons, and then he put his baseball career on hold — giving up nearly four seasons in his prime to serve in the U.S. Navy following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He didn’t miss a beat when he returned to the game, and Feller averaged more than 19 wins a season over the next six seasons.

>Across 18 seasons in the major leagues, he pitched 3,827 innings with a win-loss record of 266-162. He finished with 2,581 strikeouts, the third-most all-time upon his retirement in 1956. He was an eight-time All-Star, and he helped Cleveland win the World Series in 1948.

Jon Lieber, Council BluffsIn more than a dozen seasons with five major-league teams, Lieber finished his career with a winning record (131-124) and 1,553 strikeouts. He posted his best season in 2001, winning 20 games — with just six losses — and earning All-Star honors for the only time in his career. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2002 and missed the entire 2003 season, and in 2004 he reached the playoffs for the only time in his career while pitching for the New York Yankees.

Hal Trosky, NorwayTrosky spent about 13 years in the major leagues, playing mostly for Cleveland before finishing out his career with the Chicago White Sox. He posted his best season in 1936, when he recorded a .343 batting average and led the American League in runs batted in (162). He finished his career with 228 home runs and 1,012 RBIs on 1,561 hits.

>Playing at the same time as Hall of Fame first basemen Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg, Trosky never made an All-Star team. His career was cut short by persistent migraines, which impacted his vision.

Earl Whitehill, Cedar RapidsWhile playing for four major-league teams — Detroit, Washington, Cleveland and Chicago — Whitehall averaged 14 wins a season and never fell below 11 wins in a full season. He won 218 games with a 4.36 ERA and 1,350 strikeouts.

class="exclude-from-newsgate">Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

>This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Vote for Iowa's all-time greatest baseball player